Starbucks reign in ‘1,000 Reserve coffee bars’ pledge

Starbucks CEO, Kevin Johnson has revealed that the company will no longer be opening 1,000 Reserve coffee bars, a plan initially laid out by his predecessor.

In 2016, then CEO Howard Schultz said he wanted to open a thousand Reserve coffee bars, which are upscale artisan versions of the company’s more traditional coffee shops.

New CEO Kevin Johnson has dialled back those plans, according to an interview he gave to the Wall Street Journal this week. “One thousand was an aspiration,” he said. Now Starbucks will test just six to 10 Reserve stores to see if they can generate the necessary returns before they go any further.

Schultz, who left the company in June, believed that the exceptional experience offered by high-end destination retail stores would draw back consumers who had abandoned malls, while the higher prices would also bolster Starbucks’ bottom line.